He saw psychiatrists, spent five weeks in a psychiatric facility and was even treated with electroconvulsive therapy. I adore his use of really flavorful diminished and half diminished chords in many of his compositions. James said he put a Drake record in his CD player in 1993 and did not take it out until 1998: "I played it nearly every night… every time it plays there is this ghost in the room. Nick came home elated and declared that now, finally, the world would change and peace would prevail. In my opinion that is a question which every person, who listens to Nick Drake's music, has to answer for him- or herself.

Nick Drake: The Life by Richard Morton Jack | Waterstones

this book covers the life and works of one of my all-time favorite composers and musicians, nick drake.She was just the first of many ardent fans who would make the same pilgrimage as Drake's reputation grew and grew.

Nick Drake by Richard Morton Jack review: a troubled genius Nick Drake by Richard Morton Jack review: a troubled genius

This book was such a romanticized piece of garbage playing on the (unfairly) romanticized mythos of Drake's untimely death.But, while Rodney wrote comic operettas (she quotes a scene from one set on a slow boat to India from memory for me), it was Molly who was the decisive musical influence on their son. The New York Times reported in 2001 that sales had jumped from about 6,000 copies a year to more than 74,000. For my taste Patrick Humphries uses the words cult and myth too often, even if he tries to downplay that part. Despite being “bombed out of their minds”, the group agreed to a friend’s request for Nick to play for them.

Nick Drake: The Life by Gabrielle Drake | Hachette UK Nick Drake: The Life by Gabrielle Drake | Hachette UK

A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday. And, in the meantime, your creative powers will be developing, not stagnating, do please believe me. This biography is still well written and makes me wonder how a great artist can live once a happy live but falls apart when trying to make a living out of his music.Richly melancholic but universally ignored, his songs and character became increasingly foreboding and isolated. One can almost see him, sitting in the corner at gatherings, stoned, listening intently to the words and songs circulating in his own head, disengaged from everything going on around him, then standing up and leaving without a word – as he was increasingly wont to do. While Drake’s career as a musician was characterised by diffidence, his youth wasn’t entirely devoid of high jinks.